The cop was suspended and sent to the police line following a huge outcry.
A cop was suspended in Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj after a video of him discreetly stealing a light bulb from outside a shop went viral.
In the CCTV video that led to action against him, Sub Inspector Rajesh Verma, posted in Phulpur police station area of Prayagraj district, can be seen casually strolling towards a shop which is shut. He looks around, removes the bulb and put it in his pocket before walking away.
The cop was on night duty on the day of a Dussehra mela (fair). Locals say the incident is of October 6.
The shopkeeper, on noticing the missing bulb the next morning, checked the CCTV footage to the shocking visual of a UP Police cop, who is supposed to serve the public, was stealing a light bulb.
The cop was suspended and sent to the police line following a huge outcry.
The accused was recently promoted, and had been posted at the Phulpur police station for the last eight months.
The suspended cop has argued that he had merely removed the bulb and put it up at the spot where he was stationed, as it was dark there. A departmental inquiry has been ordered against him.
This is the second such incident that has caused the UP police embarrassment recently. A few days ago in Kanpur, a cop was caught stealing a mobile phone from the pocket of a person sleeping on the pavement.